Description

Easily Unlock the Power of Your New Windows 10 ComputerDiscover hundreds of tips and tricks you can use right away with your Windows 10 computer to get more done and have more fun.

You’ll learn how to use your Windows 10 computer both as a powerful communication, organization, and productivity tool and as a feature-packed entertainment device. Guy Hart-Davis shows you strategies for making the most of Microsoft’s robust built-in apps, from the new Edge browser to your Cortana personal assistant.

Easy to understand and nontechnical, Windows 10 Tips and Tricks is perfect for beginners--and for more experienced users ready to get more productive or move to a new computer. Whether you’re running Windows 10 on a desktop, a laptop, or a tablet, get this book and run it better!

Here’s just a sampling of what this book’s tips, tricks, and strategies will help you do:

Set up your Windows 10 computer and make it work just the way you want

Navigate Windows 10 like a pro

Make the most of Windows’ resurrected and improved Start menu

Explore the web faster, smarter, and more safely with Microsoft Edge

Enter text whatever way you like best--including the on-screen keyboard and handwriting panel

In addition, this book is part of Que’s exciting new Content Update Program. As Microsoft updates features of Windows 10, sections of this book will be updated or new sections will be added to match the updates to the software. The updates will be delivered to you via a FREE Web Edition of this book, which can be accessed with any Internet connection. To learn more, visit www.quepublishing.com/CUP.

How to access the web edition: Follow the instructions in the book to learn how to register your book to access the FREE Web Edition.

Sample Content

Table of Contents

Introduction 1What Does This Book Cover? 1What Do I Need to Know to Get Started? 3Chapter 1: Setting Up Windows 5Starting the Installation 5Choosing Between an Upgrade and a Custom Installation 6Choosing the Drive and Partition for a Custom Installation 7Making the Right Choices on the Setup Screens 10Choosing Between Using Default Settings and Configuring Windows Manually 10Choosing Personalization and Location Settings 13Choosing Browser, Protection, Connectivity, and Error Reporting Settings 14Working on the Who Owns This PC? Screen 15Working on the Make It Yours Screen 16Setting a PIN and Meeting Cortana 17Working on the Create an Account for This PC Screen 17Working in the Networks Pane 20Signing In and Out of Windows 21Locking Windows 22Restarting Windows 22Putting Your Computer to Sleep or into Hibernation 22Configuring and Using Cortana 25Configuring Cortana 25Searching with Cortana 27Shutting Down Your Computer 28Chapter 2: Navigating Windows Like a Pro 29Using the Start Menu 29Opening the Start Menu 30Getting Around the Start Menu 30Tweaking Your Input Devices 31Adjusting the Mouse or Touchpad 32Choosing the Right Pen and Touch Settings 38Configuring Pen and Touch Input 42Configuring Your Keyboard 43Configuring Typing Settings 44Configuring Your Language and Keyboard Layout 46Setting Up Speech Recognition 48Inputting Text 50Inputting Text with a Hardware Keyboard 50Inputting Text with the Touch Keyboard and the Handwriting Panel 51Inputting Text via Speech Recognition 54Resizing and Arranging Windows 55Resizing and Closing Windows with the Command Buttons 55Using Snap and Snap Assist 56Arranging Windows Manually 57Resizing, Arranging, and Closing Windows with Keyboard Shortcuts 58Switching Among Open Windows 58Chapter 3: Connecting to Networks and the Internet 61Connecting to a Wired Network 62Connecting to a Wireless Network 63Connecting to a Wireless Network That Broadcasts Its Name 64Connecting to a Hidden Wireless Network 67Disconnecting from and Reconnecting to Wireless Networks 70Whitelisting Your Device on a Wi-Fi Network 70Managing Your Network Connections 71Using Airplane Mode and Turning Off Wireless Devices 71Configuring IP Settings Manually 72Connecting Through a Proxy Server 78Prioritizing One Network Connection over Another 81Bridging Two or More Network Connections 82Improving Wireless Speed and Reliability 84Forgetting a Wireless Network 87Connecting Through a VPN 88Setting Up a VPN Connection 88Connecting via the VPN 90Mapping a Drive to a Network Folder 91Sharing Your Computer’s Internet Connection 94Diagnosing and Repairing Network Problems 95Determining Whether a Problem Has Occurred 96Using the Troubleshoot Problems Feature 97Chapter 4: Connecting External Hardware 99Connecting External Drives 99Making the Physical Connection 99Formatting a Drive 100Configuring an External Drive for Better Performance 102Ejecting an External Drive. 104Sorting Out Your Displays 104Connecting a Display 105Opening the Display Pane in Settings 105Choosing Essential Display Settings 106Choosing Advanced Display Settings 107Using Virtual Desktops 111Setting Up Your Printers 112Connecting a Local Printer 113Connecting a Network Printer 113Configuring Your Printer 114Chapter 5: Customizing Windows to Suit Your Needs 121Customizing the Start Menu 122Choosing Which Categories of Items to Display on the Start Menu 122Customizing the Start Menu Directly 124Customizing the Taskbar 125Moving and Resizing the Taskbar 126Configuring the Taskbar’s Behavior 126Putting the Apps You Need Most on the Taskbar 128Making the Most of Taskbar Toolbars 128Choosing Which Icons to Display in the Notification Area 130Saving Time with Automatic Login--and Why You Shouldn’t 133Making the Lock Screen Show the Information You Need 135Displaying the Lock Screen Pane 135Setting the Picture or Slideshow 135Adding Apps to the Lock Screen for Quick Reference 136Making the Recycle Bin Work the Way You Prefer 137Telling Windows Which Notifications You Want to Receive 139Opening the Notifications & Actions Pane 140Choosing Essential Notifications Settings 140Chapter 6: Sorting Out Your Files, Folders, and Storage 143Navigating File Explorer Quickly and Efficiently 144Opening a File Explorer Window 144Putting Useful Buttons on the Quick Access Toolbar 144Using the File Menu 146Finding Your Way Around the Ribbon 147Customizing How File Explorer Looks and Works 148Changing the Layout 149Customizing the Quick Access View 150Choosing How to Lay Out the Items 150Sorting and Grouping Items 151Choosing Which Items to Show and Which to Hide 152Adjusting Folder and Search Options 152Finding the Files and Folders You Need 162Using Libraries and Folders the Smart Way 163Coming to Grips with the Default Libraries 164Creating a New Library 165Including Folders in Your Library 166Setting the Library’s Default Save Location and Public Save Location 167Configuring the Library to Work Your Way 168Restoring Your Default Libraries 169Managing Your Storage 170Seeing What’s Taking Up Space on Your Computer 170Controlling Where Windows Saves Games, Apps, Music, and Other Items 174Creating Pooled Storage with Storage Spaces 175Understanding Simple Spaces, Mirror Spaces, and Parity Spaces 175Creating a Storage Space 176Using the Storage Space 179Changing an Existing Storage Space 180Deleting a Storage Space 180Chapter 7: Securing and Sharing Your Computer 181Configuring Accounts for Practicality and Security 182Setting Your Profile Picture 182Connecting a Local Account to a Microsoft Account 182Securing Your Account with a Password, Picture Password, PIN, or Windows Hello 184Creating Accounts for Others 186Tightening Your Computer’s Security 189Locking Your Computer with a Startup Password 189Setting Your Computer to Lock Automatically 192Increasing Login Security with Secure Sign-In 193Configuring User Account Control 194Controlling Recent App Switching 197Setting Up Assigned Access 199Configuring Sharing 200Sharing via a Homegroup 200Using Advanced Sharing 205Chapter 8: Optimizing Your Computer’s Performance 211Adding Memory If You Can 212Turning Off Eye Candy to Boost Performance 214Configuring the Paging File 217Controlling Data Execution Prevention 221Stopping Unnecessary Services 222Turning Off Superfetch and Prefetch 227Turning Off Superfetch 227Turning Off Prefetch 227Reducing the Number of Startup Items 229Optimizing and Defragmenting Your Computer’s Hard Drive 231Checking Free Space and Opening the Optimize Drives Window 231Analyzing and Optimizing a Drive 233Choosing Settings for Scheduled Optimization 234Getting Rid of Useless Apps 235Extending Runtime on the Battery 237Setting a Sensible Power Plan 237Using Airplane Mode and Turning Off Wi-Fi or Bluetooth 242Avoiding Power-Hungry Apps 242Choosing Settings for Playing Games 242Chapter 9: Installing, Running, and Managing Apps 245Getting the Apps You Need 245Getting Apps from the Store 246Getting and Installing Apps from Other Sources 252Managing the Apps You’re Running 261Closing an App That Stops Responding 261Going Further with Other Actions in Task Manager 262Removing Unwanted Apps 271Setting the Default Apps You Need 272Opening the Default Apps Pane in the Settings App 273Choosing Your Default Apps 274Choosing Default Apps by File Types or by Protocols 274Choosing Default Apps by Apps 274Opening a File in a Non-Default App and Changing the Default App 276Chapter 10: Enjoying Music, Photos, and Videos 279Understanding Windows Media Player and Groove Music 279Using Windows Media Player 280Setting Up Windows Media Player to Protect Your Privacy 280Navigating Windows Media Player 284Adding Your Music to Windows Media Player 286Playing Music with Windows Media Player 295Syncing Music with Your Phone or Tablet 295Importing Photos and Videos Using Windows Media Player 297Sharing Media Libraries 297Exploring the Groove Music App and the Groove Service 302Getting Started with Groove Music 302Adding Music to Your Groove Music Collection 304Playing Music with Groove Music 306Creating Playlists in Groove Music 306Watching Videos and DVDs 307Chapter 11: Browsing the Internet Safely 309Navigating Microsoft Edge Like a Pro 309Viewing Pages 312Working with Tabs and Windows 313Browsing Fast with Page Prediction 314Copying Text with Caret Browsing 315Removing Distractions with Reading Mode 315Browsing the Smart Way with Favorites 315Returning to Pages You Viewed Earlier 316Catching Up with Your Reading List 317Annotating Web Pages with Web Note 318Controlling Microsoft Edge with Keyboard Shortcuts 320Configuring Microsoft Edge for Comfort and Security 321Configuring General Settings 321Configuring Essential Advanced Settings 323Configuring Privacy and Services Settings 325Clearing Your Browsing Data 327Chapter 12: Communicating via Email and Skype 331Communicating via Email 331Setting Up Your Email Accounts 332Navigating in the Mail App 343Configuring Your Email Accounts and the Mail App 348Communicating via Skype 354Getting the Skype App 354Completing the Initial Setup Routine 356Navigating the Skype Screen 357Communicating via Skype 359Configuring Skype to Work Your Way 360Configuring Keyboard Shortcuts on the Hotkeys Screen 369Choosing Options on the Accessibility Screen 370Saving Your Configuration Changes 371Chapter 13: Updating and Troubleshooting Windows 373Making Windows Update Work Your Way 374Configuring Windows Update 374Applying an Update 377Backing Up Key Files with File History 378Enabling File History 379Using History to Restore Files 381Resolving Issues in Action Center 382Reviewing Security and Maintenance Issues 384Creating and Using System Restore Points 386Creating System Restore Points 386Restoring Windows to a System Restore Point 389Undoing a System Restore Operation 393Solving Problems with the Recovery Tools 395Accessing the Recovery Tools 395Resetting Your PC 396Going Back to an Earlier Build of Windows 397Using the Advanced Startup Tools 398Chapter 14: Going Further with Advanced Moves 405Working with Partitions 405Examining the Partitions on Your Computer’s Drive 406Shrinking a Partition 409Creating a New Partition 410Extending a Partition 413Deleting a Partition 414Running Multiple Operating Systems on Your Computer 416Dual-Booting or Multi-Booting Windows with Another Operating System 416Installing and Running Other Operating Systems with Hyper-V 419Installing and Running Other Operating Systems with Third-Party Virtual-Machine Software 430Making Advanced Changes by Editing the Registry 430Opening Registry Editor and Navigating Its Interface 431Understanding What’s What in the Registry 432Backing Up and Restoring the Registry 433An Example: Removing an App from the Open With Submenu in File Explorer 435Index 437

Updates

Updates & Corrections

This book is part of Que's Content Update Program. As Microsoft updates features of Windows 10, sections of this book will be updated or new sections will be added to match the updates to the software. The updates will be delivered to you via a free Web Edition of this book, which can be accessed with any Internet connection from your account on quepublishing.com. For more information, visit quepublishing.com/CUP.